What’s on this week
3rd November: Parish Lunch
The parish lunch at The Royal Oak will take place as usual. There is a sign-up sheet at the back of church. Forgotten to sign up? No problem, come anyway.
Ladies Fellowship
Tuesday 5th November at 7.30 pm. There will be a demonstration of floral arrangements for Christmas by Pauline from Bromborough Flowers
Big Breakfast in the Centre
Saturday 9th November 9.00 am -11.00 am £5.00. No need to book, just turn up.
Brass Cleaning in Church
There will be brass cleaning in church from 10.00 am on Saturday 9th November. You could have your breakfast and then pop up to church. As they say, ‘many hands make light work’.
Remembrance Sunday 10th November
The main service will take place starting at 10.15 am. Bishop Julie will be attending her and we welcome her for her first Sunday here at St Barnabas. There will be a short said Holy Communion at 9.00 am in The Sanctuary. Tea and Coffee will be served after the Remembrance Service in the Centre.
Remembrance Service at the War Memorial in Bromborough Pool
The war memorial in Bromborough Pool has been refurbished and I have been invited to lead a short service outside on Monday 11th November at 11.00 am. Bromborough Pool is our parish. I believe God is encouraging us to get working there again. I didn’t ask for this it, with other opportunities came to me. God is good.
Can you bake? Will you bake?
We need cakes for after the Remembrance Service. Please let Thelma and/or Jenny Hope know if you are can to help.
Can you count money? Help still needed.
On Mondays – this is different to the Sunday counters. Please speak to Julie Watts or email treasurer@stbarnabasbromborough.org Thank you.
A visit by our CMS link Missionaries
Marcio, Noemi and their children will be visiting us on Saturday 16th Sunday 17th November 2024. You are all invited to a supper on Saturday 16th at 6.00pm in the Centre. We also hope that you will put in a special effort to hear them speak on Sunday 17th. Please put the date in your diary and then sign up at the back of church. Saturday evening will not be a religious event, so feel free to invite those who don’t believe too. Obviously, the work that they speak about is very much as a consequence of a calling by God and is supported by a religious foundation. We will be serving sausage casserole and tuna pasta bake. There will be apple pie for dessert.
Church Rota
The new church rota is being drawn up for December – February 2025. Please send Fiona Austin any dates you are not available by 15 November. Please email her at secretary@stbarnabasbromborough.org. If you would like to be added to the rota to welcome, read, say prayers and or serve refreshments please let Fiona know by 15 November. We especially need people to do refreshments. If you are on the rota but are unable to carry out your duty, it is your responsibility to organise a swap yourself.
What can you give or get people for Christmas?
You could buy them a donation to St Barnabas Church. We accept any amount, big or small. For some people, this is something they would value. Don’t want to do that? You could give St Barnabas a Christmas present of an extra amount above and beyond your usual giving.
Christmas Tree Festival
Yes… that time is coming near. This year’s Festival will take place from Wednesday 27th November until Friday 6th December. Opening times vary. We will need lots of stewarding. Please encourage everyone you can think of to visit. I keep finding lots of people who have no idea what it is. This year we have one or two things that are new, and even more big trees! Jenny G
Messy Church
Will take place on Tuesday 8th November at 3.30pm (helpers come for 3.15 please). There is an activity sheet at the back of church – please sign up at the back of church. Thank you.
St Barnabas Community Care Network
I gather that some of you still don’t know what this is. Information appeared in the newsletter for several weeks but in case you have forgotten…
The St Barnabas Community Care Network (SBCCN) is an umbrella term to cover almost everything we do in our centre and our Food project where we support local families and others who are brought to our attention. We needed a term to group the ever-increasing work we do. As well as the food, we have a Warm Space every day. People are can have a free drink and use our WiFi. We are a branch for FUSS and FUPS, the free school uniform charity and we are also a place for Caritas to meet – this is an organisation who support people on The Wirral. We don’t run all the stuff in our network but we are partners in this work. Our café is part of the whole thing too and you might think of Messy Church being part of that family as well. Helene Kaye, one of our deputy wardens is the person who has oversight of our grants and our food project and may write to you using the SBCCN email address. You can of course contact me about any of these things too. So now you know! Jenny (Rector)
The Posada
Some of you will remember this, having done it before at St Barnabas. What happens is that Mary and Joseph go out of Church with someone on the first Sunday of advent and they visit the homes of everyone who signs up. It is a bit like pass the parcel but obviously you receive it from people who visit your home (if necessary you could meet them for a coffee in The Centre) and then after 24 hours you take it to the next person on the list. Thanks to Heather who recently joined us and is prepared to organise the rota and keep and eye out for any bumps in the road. Doing this is a wonderful opportunity to be hospitable to other members of our church.
Church calendar of events
When was the last time that you visited the website? There is a church calendar there which gives you the dates for what is happening. There are also contact details for most of the leaders too. We don’t set out to keep things secret – quite the opposite! If you want to tell people what you are doing or add things to the Calendar please contact Andrew Watts via Communications@stbarnabasbromborough.org.
Donate to St Barnabas as you shop online!
With Christmas coming it’s a great chance for you to help raise money for church. Sign up with GiveAsYouLive.com and choose ‘PCC of St Barnabas, Bromborough’ as your chosencharity. It costs you the same amount as buying without the ‘Give as you live’ portal but it makes money for church.
A church member contribution to Feeding families this Christmas
We think that we will be feeding about 120 families this Christmas as well as providing gifts. Last year we only had enough money to buy the basics. It has always been my goal to give people a bit of what I have at Christmas. A tin of chocolates, crackers, Christmas napkins alongside rice and pasta and all the other stuff. The amount of grant money we need for this is enormous. We have yet to confirm that we have sufficient funds. I believe someone wondered why the men’s group were being asked to contribute to selection boxes when we had £10,000 of grant left in our accounts.
Shopping has gone up in costs – it is not easy to feed a family for two weeks on £100. Then add gifts… There is another element to this. If you are time poor (you don’t have much of it spare) or you can’t walk and stand or lift heavy bags how can you help this project? I want the whole church to be part of it so during November…
You can:
1. buy one or two selection boxes and bring them to church or the centre,
2. buy a tin of Quality Street or Roses or similar and bring it to church or centre,
3. buy a box of crackers and bring that to church or the centre,
4. bring any brand-new toiletry gift sets to church or centre. Brand new toys or games can also be donated.
Please note that you only need to donate one or two things. And you don’t have to do that.
For our Prayers:
If you know of anyone in special need of prayer, please let us know. Please ask people for permission before their name appears on the newsletter.
This week we pray for those in our parish and specifically:
Jean Horan, Wendy Walker, Joe, Craig Dillon, David Hart, Rosie Robertson, Gordon.
We pray for our church family at home, Josie Davies, Thelma Williams, Eddie and Hilary Griffiths, Mr Maelor, Pat Porter, Jan Harper, Barbara Tharme, Hilary and Eddie Griffiths, Val and Pete Jones and currently Anne Ellis.
We also pray for Joseph Mills and for his family.
We pray for the families and friends of the Late Jill Gunn, Lt. Les Gunn, the Lt. James Cassidy and Lt. Pat Delemere.
We pray too for our link Missionaries Marcio, Noemi and their children and thank God for the work that they are doing in Indaiatuba. We ask for safe travels to and around the UK and Europe.
We pray for Revd Deborah, Edna and our brothers and sisters at St Barnabas Church, Limassol.